Tuesday, April 25, 2006

UC Santa Cruz issued an apology of sorts for the actions of their students during the anti-recruiting protest earlier this month. They actually go a bit further than I'd have expected in their comments about the students. Even pointing out that they cowardly covered their faces so as to avoid responsibility for their actions. The message even recognizes the professionalism of the faculty, campus security, and the military recruiters in the whole affair. There is the mandatory remarks about the actions of the Students Against War not representing the rest of the campus, and they're probably right. I might question their "75 protesters", but I've only seen pictures, and I don't care enough to individually count each person. They were there, I wasn't.

What I'm more curious about is what they're going to do next. The Students Against War is obviously a group that isn't going to play by the rules the campus requires. From my own experiences back in my college days campus groups that don't play by the rules do face sanction. I my case it turns out that there was some stupid rule against an intramural rugby team streaking the library during dead week. Who would have thunk it? I can't imagine that an unruly mob interrupting a university sponsored event, and threatening the safety of guests of the university is something that falls within the campus rules. Maybe it's not enough to remove whatever vaneer of respectability that UCSC provides to the group, but I'd be willing to bet that an academic suspension of the group's leadership would catch someone's attention.

Anyways, good on the administration for coming out and issuing something more than the expected mealy-mouthed ode to campus diversity of thought. If they press on and actually do something about the people who facilitated the event, all the better, but you've got to crawl before you can walk.